Why Scarlett O’ Hara is the One Badass Woman that I Admire

Scarlett O’ Hara is synonymous with selfishness and manipulation. She is a rebel- self-centered and relentless. And not many who have read this Pulitzer-winning epic Gone With The Wind, like her. But when I think of Scarlett, I think of this strong, capable, kickass woman who is a survivor.

I read Gone With The Wind when I was all of seventeen. I had just finished my Grade 12 Boards and the Entrance examinations. I was getting bored as the question mark of my future loomed over me all the time. That was when I saw this book in Mom’s bookshelf, a humongous book of a thousand pages.

From then till date, I would have read tens of thousands of books and I can vouch that without a blink of an eye I would say, my favorite of them all is Gone With the Wind. While Rhett Butler rules my list of desirable men from literature, it is actually Scarlett who has my heart.

Why Scarlett O’ Hara is the One Badass Woman That I Admire

She is selfish

I agree that the world asks of you to be a selfless, kind and self-sacrificing woman. While all of that is good, sometimes, you do have to think about your happiness. I know I am going to get a lot of backlash for this, but then I speak for everyone here. I am a good person and never will I ever think of harming anyone for my victory; I will even gracefully back off from the entire argument or competition if it comes to that.

She loves fiercely

For the love of God, she lusts after a married man all throughout the book. Her love for Ashley started even before he got married, but she was not met with reciprocation. Call it an obsession but it is difficult to love someone who doesn’t love you back – the heartache and torture being the consequences. But Scarlett didn’t care about all that.

But then she is struck with this sudden realization standing beside Ashley who was mourning the loss of his wife Melanie, “And I’ve loved something that doesn’t exist” – that loving this man was a complete and utter facade. Your dream guy may not always be the right guy.

Running back to her husband, Rhett Butler, to finally proclaim her love to him, she is faced with one of life’s greatest ironies- realizing you are in love with someone who has already fallen out of love with you.

Rhett had walked out after having witnessed how she was still in love with Ashley after all these years. “I must have loved you for years, only, I’m such a stupid fool, I didn’t know it.” to which she is met with this cold iconic line by Rhett Butler, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

Tomorrow is another day!

Despite being raped, killed a man, losing her parents and her daughter, nearly starving to death, being widowed more than once, and getting dumped, Scarlett survived. While most cannot fathom the things she has done, we should understand that Scarlett lived in an era when women weren’t allowed to do most of the things that we can do today.

This famous line is what kept my life going. Whenever I am faced with an obstacle, I say to myself that I can always start afresh the next day.

Fiddle-dee-dee!

It is what it is! When faced with a situation that she isn’t particularly happy about, Scarlett would always dismiss it with “Fiddle-dee-dee”. It is to realize that in life, there are certain things not worth banging your head up against the wall. Some things aren’t really worth losing your peace of mind!

Never give up!

She wasn’t afraid to be herself, she could even dance the night while rocking the black veil of mourning her husband. Scarlett never let petty rumors get in her way. She didn’t care about the world, she defied social norms, but remained strong in difficult times. She had a life of privileges until all were destroyed in the Civil War. She started farming, handpicked cotton herself, survived Yankee attacks, even killed a man, backstabbed her family, married her sister’s boyfriend for money and did all the unspeakable things. But then she was a tough cookie.

Margarett Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind is no page-turner. You will be suffocated with a lot of Civil War chapters but in the end, it is a must-read. There is a reason why more than 28 million copies of the book have been sold over 36 countries.

A sequel named Scarlett is also published, however, it isn’t written by the same author but Alexandra Ripley. How I discovered about this book was kinda funny. I was casually mentioning my favorite book to one of my friends at the beginning of college, and I realized GWTW was her favorite too. She then told me about the book Scarlett and I still remember the joy I had in discovering a fellow bookworm who shared similar tastes and also about the sequel.

So, get me the rarest of the rarest Collector’s edition copy of Gone with the Wind and I’m all yours! 😛

Disclaimer: The post contains affiliate links, which means, if you make a purchase through this link, I will earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

That’s all for now! Have you read Gone With the Wind? If so, what are your thoughts on Scarlett O’ Hara? Let me know.I hope you’ll drop by tomorrow too.

My theme for the A to Z Challenge this year is ‘Celebrating the Bibliophile in me’, where I would share the books, authors and fictional characters that I love, loathe and tolerate.Ah, there could be more!You can follow me on my Bookstagram at Muffytales.

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About the Author

Shalini is an IT Analyst by profession, avid blogger by passion and a nomad by choice. She is a proud Army Wife, a trained classical dancer, and an aspiring YouTuber. Her ardent love for books, food, and travel brought her to the blogging world. She also blogs at Something's Cooking. When she is not cooking up a storm or writing her heart out, she can be found with her nose buried in a book and her Golden Retriever Mufasa, resting his face on her lap.

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10 Comments

I read Gone with the Wind when I had more patience for all the details of historical fiction. When I read it then, I remember that the book had me in tears at some point. In the beginning, Scarlett was definitely not a likable character, but she grows on you with her determination and single-mindedness. And like what you mentioned, she does love fiercely and is loyal to those who are loyal to her.

I haven’t read the book, but I get the impression Scarlett was a woman ahead of her time, and perhaps this is why she made mistakes -she had no to turn to look up to or give her advice. She’s definitely kickass!
Debbie

What a book it is, I have read Gone with the Wind in college, it was a very lonely time. A heartbreak from my roomy’s betrayal and other stuff. That time I picked this book from Jayanagar market in Bangalore. And thank heavens I did that, inspired me in the boldest ways.
I went back to that same roomy, to clearly show her the dual face she hid from everyone. I was proud of myself actually, thanks to this readDipika recently posted…Shopping is My Happiness Mantra

I haven’t read Gone with the Wind. But wow, she sounds like one bandass woman! It is wonderful reading about such books with women characters who defied norms of the society then.Reema Dsouza recently posted…Sisu #AtoZChallenge #NaPoWriMo

Shalini “Gone With the Wind” is my favourite book too and I love Scarlett. She is brave and lives life on her own terms.
The sequel “Scarlett” is quite disappointing according to me, but there is a new sequel published 6/7 years ago called “Rhett”- it’s much better! Hope you find it and enjoy it 🙂

GWTW is one of my favourites too. I got a copy from a road side vendor. I still have it! Though I did not really like all the things that Scarlett did, I will say one thing. She is a survivor. She will do ANYTHING to live. There is much to learn from that. Great choice.

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Shalini is an avid blogger by passion with an insatiable curiosity. She is a proud Army Wife who hails from Kerala (but now atop a beautiful hilltop in Uttarakhand), a wayfarer, who globe-trots with her camera, capturing all that's magical.